A new study by the Nielsen-financed Council for Research Excellence suggests our enthusiasm about the interplay of social media and the television is still a bit overblown. A survey indicates that people aren't using Facebook and Twitter often when they're viewing TV, and those who are using those platforms are posting about something other than what they're viewing. Vindu Goel, writing for The New York Times, concludes that Twitter and Facebook wield little influence on TV.***Court ruling or no court ruling, the Turkish telecommunications authority is refusing to lift its ban on YouTube in the country. The court has ruled that the ban breaches human rights, but the government and its regulator insist YouTube postings of illicit recordings from secret security talks is part of a "dirty campaign" to topple the government.***Craig Silverman, writing for Poynter, notes the closure next month of the last U.S. state press council. The Washington Press Council, overseen for more than a decade by John Hamer, will close when he retires in May. There is no word from its board on what will emerge in its place.

There are relaunches, and then there are relaunches. Witness Newsweek, sold for a dollar only a few years ago, shuttered, now being brought back to print life with today's immensely appealing cover story purportedly on the founder of Bitcoin. Problem is, not everyone agrees he is who he is deemed to be. He certainly denies it. Gawker reports Newsweek stands behind the story. Someone isn't telling the truth. There are plenty of takes on this dispute, and Felix Salmon of Reuters has something comprehensive on it.***Americans clearly haven't abandoned the television set, no matter the new digital distractions. New data suggest the typical American continues to spend 34 hours a week glued to the first screen, Re/code reports. The younger you are, the less you watch (those over 65 are clocking in 50.5 hours weekly), and while it's true that there has been some decline in live TV viewing, t's not necessarily so that they're not watching TV. They're just delaying their viewing through the recording device.***Steven Waldman, writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, refutes Jeff Jarvis' recent post that suggested philanthropy is misplaced with a journalism non-profit operation. Waldman says non-profits can be sustainable and can serve needs profit-seeking firms can't or won't. Philanthropy is very much needed in the sector, he says.

A new Nielsen report on the digital consumer suggests time-shifting and second-screen use continue to grow in the U.S. In the last year Americans on average time-shifted 13 hours monthly of television, an increase of about two hours, and their live television viewing declined nearly three hours to 134 hours monthly. Americans average four devices per household and 84 per cent said they use their tablets or smartphones while watching television. AP notes an offbeat finding: 40 per cent of those 18 to 24 use social media in the bathroom.***The New Yorker's George Packer examines the impact of Amazon on the publishing business and on the digital marketplace. Packer chronicles the effort by Amazon to be the retailer of practically everything, including some of its industry tactics, and how its early-stage book business (now a minor element) built the leverage with personal information for Amazon to capitalize in other sectors. Packer, himself a bestselling author, is not bullish on what the company has done for its founding function.***Journalism evolves, but it has been interesting to watch the evolution of an article in the last day about Facebook's algorithm and its impact on several viral-seeking sites, particularly the impact on Buzzfeed. Business Insider contributor Nicholas Carlson initially said the impact was dramatic on sites like Upworthy but that Buzzfeed was not particularly hurt by Facebook's changes because it regularly bought Facebook ads to support certain content. He changed that (and, to be fair, communicated he had) to give greater credit to Buzzfeed's contributors after Buzzfeed's CEO complained. In all it has been a bit of a backslide from an initial shot, something Gawker has been more than willing to chronicle.***

A new Pew Research Journalism Project report highlights the clout of cable news in capturing American audience attention. The report explores how television news dominates and how cable dominates television news. While larger numbers watch network news, those who watch cable (38%) watch it a lot.

New Nielsen research data encompasses the digital video recorder numbers. USA Today reports it suggests 12 network series gained four million viewers on the basis of delayed viewing. That is an enormous shift and bound to help those series stay alive and attract advertisers. Surprisingly, older viewers are among the biggest time-shifters.

Amy Davidson, writing for The New Yorker blog, says journalists should get ready for government scare tactics, wild stories and secrets, now that Edwards Snowden's vault of material is in the hands of media. She looks back at a German episode a half-century ago and finds similarities in the handling of revelations.

A Philly.com report notes how many prominent newspapers are turning to streaming video to increase their digital audiences and impact. Several now house studios and sets to interview guests and host programs throughout the day.

Felix Salmon of Reuters started a two-part series today on content economics. He examines why advertising dollars are not necessarily reaching people online, how network television is sustained by its different, intermediated model that cannot convert into an online model, and how online publishers are finding it difficult to create business models in a climate of direct content from brands.

Christopher Mims, writing for Quartz, assesses the new Yahoo home page and concludes that it's irrelevant. For that matter, he notes, no one is talking about anyone's home page any longer because that isn't how content is being consumed. Content is shared and a home page may never be seen.

TV viewing has been measured traditionally over the years by Nielsen, but The Hollywood Reporter indicates changes to Nielsen's approach means it will soon count online streaming, the Xbox and PlayStation and, eventually, iPad and other tablet viewing to create program ratings measurements.

Time was, we expected a convergence of the computer and the television into one screen. The fear from television was that the emergence of the Internet was a zero-sum threat; hours into the Internet would be hours out of the television screen experience.

While neither has come to pass, it doesn't mean the TV and the computer aren't working with each other.

New data from Nielsen indicates Americans are more and more often using their computers while watching TV. About 60 per cent say they do so at least once a month.

The level of multitasking rose 38 per cent in one year, Nielsen suggests. It's perhaps an indication why such marquee television events as the Super Bowl, Oscars and Winter Olympics drew high ratings --- the use of the computer, particularly for social networking while the event was televised, turned America into one big living room.

A new survey from the Nielsen organization suggests that, even though women do not comprise the majority of smartphone owners, they comprise the majority of mobile social networking.

They "friend" and "Tweet" 10 percentage points (55 vs. 45 per cent) more than do men.

And it's not the youngest cohort networking. The 35-54 age group comprises one point more (36 vs. 35) than the 25-34 age group in their use. Even though that's a larger age span, it's interesting to see the level of use in that cohort.

A new Nielsen study suggests Americans are most attached to the television set, then the radio dial, and then the Internet. While the conventional wisdom supposes online has surpassed traditional media, TV and radio have a strong lead in audience.

Indeed, radio is made larger by the MP3 player. Newspapers and magazines trail the broadcast/online forms of media in the U.S.

The breakdown of percentage of audience daily and time spent was found to be:

Editor & Publisher reports Nielsen Online data that suggests the time spent on leading newspaper sites rose slightly in July.The New York Times and Wall Street Journal experienced some substanial gains, while the Washington Post only crept up slightly.It is possible the data isn't representative of trends because Nielsen altered its panels in June. But at the very least, it suggests strong use of the top sites and sustained use of them.